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Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 13, Episodes 25 & 26: This Side of Paradise/ The Devil in the Dark

starring: Lil' Romeo, Joseph Forester, Bobby Valentino, Master P

: Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 13, Episodes 25 & 26: This Side of Paradise/ The Devil in the Dark
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9786305910442
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
ISBN: 6305910448
Label: Paramount
Manufacturer: Paramount
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Paramount
Region Code: 1
Release Date: July 11, 2000
Running Time: 100 minutes
Sales Rank: 92669
Studio: Paramount
Theatrical Release Date: November 09, 2005



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Description:
'This Side of Paradise,' Ep. 25 - Omicron Ceti III's colonists should have been killed by deadly Berthold rays, yet Kirk finds a group of mysteriously healthy colonists--and Spock falls in love! 'The Devil in the Dark,' Ep. 26 - Kirk and Spock beam down to Janus VI to investigate after an unknown monster roaming the planet's tunnels kills more than 50 miners.

Amazon.com:
The Vulcan-born first officer of The Enterprise, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), generally smiles about as often as Greta Garbo. But in 'This Side of Paradise,' Spock not only smiles but laughs, dangles from a tree, kisses a good-looking blonde woman, and gets into a fight with his best friend. It all starts when Spock, Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Sulu (George Takei), and a couple of crew members beam down to Omicron Ceti III to find out what happened to a group of scientists who built a research colony on the planet. What they discover is a little spooky. The colonists claim they've created a true paradise where everyone is part of a collective mind bent on positivity. Kirk, naturally, argues that paradise robs people of their need to suffer and crawl toward progress.

Meanwhile, Spock is zapped by an exotic flower that is the real source of all this community goodwill, and he instantly gets happy, acting like a kid, renewing a romance with a comely biologist (an angelic Jill Ireland), and giving the sputtering Kirk an earful of entertaining insubordination. Story editor D.C. Fontana's script contains some obvious parallels between a chemically induced 'paradise' and a drug-induced high in the 1960s. But the real draw here is Spock's uncharacteristic joy and the drama behind Kirk's shattering decision to break his friend's heart.

'Devil in the Dark' opens with an emergency on Janus VI, a planet rich in raw materials crucial to the running of Federation operations. There's a lot of money to be made by the mining contractor involved, but a swift, unseen monster is roaming the snaky tunnels of Janus's interior, turning miners into acid-drenched goo. It's up to the Enterprise crew to find the alien culprit and defuse the lynch-mob mentality spreading among the paranoid working stiffs there. Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) beam down to initiate the detective work, leading Spock to quickly conclude that the thousands of silicone balls mysteriously strewn about the planet's deepest level might have something to do with the reasons behind the atrocities.

Written by series guru Gene L. Coon and directed by mainstay Joseph Pevney (who alternated directorial chores with Marc Daniels during the show's second season), 'The Devil in the Dark' is a breathlessly paced episode reflecting a delightful variety of cross-genre influences--Westerns, creature-features, gritty noir. Add one of the most effective and moving instances of the Enterprise's search for new life on Star Trek (plus McCoy's infamous complaint, 'I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!'), and this is a memorable program indeed. --Tom Keogh



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Spock Emotes! Morals Galore!
Overall, these are not 2 of the stronger eps from Season 1 however they do allow for telling insights ... Read More


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Pure 60�s cheese, as you like it
"This Side of Paradise" - 3.865 stars

(a.k.a., "James T. Kirk: Wet Blanket")

"For ... Read More


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Two more must-see episodes
This Side of Paradise-Yet another excellent episode, this one concerns a planet where plant spores have ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Spores & Aliens
"This Side of Paradise" A planet laced with plants that shoot out spores which make everyone happy & ... Read More


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Mmmm... Meat Loaf...
REVIEWED ITEM: Star Trek® Original Series DVD Volume 13: This Side of Paradise© / The Devil In The Dark©
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Copyright ©2003, Mark Carey.